In this season of renewal and resolutions, I’m offering a series of posts on six bad sales habits. Each habit is worse than the one preceding it - kind of like a descent into sales hell. Unappealing as the subject matter is, all these habits are ones highly successful sales people can easily fall into over time. If anything sounds familiar, it is time for a resolution.

Of the many traps sales people fall into, winging it among the most alluring. As sales people become more familiar with their products and how business works, they forget the importance of preparation. They believe they can get by on their experience, know-how, and charm, and to a certain extent, they can.

However, as the saying goes, one must “expect the unexpected”. When you wing it, what happens when …

• A customer asks you an unexpected question.
• As you walk into the lobby, you learn your informal, one-on-one product presentation with a buyer is now a formal meeting with the engineering staff.
• You stroll into a meeting with Phil, whom you’ve known for years, only to find you’re talking to a young lady named Jill who replaced him last week.
• You discover your client has implemented an entirely new business strategy that calls the value of your services into question.

New Year’s Resolution!
I will prepare, review, and rehearse. I will do “worst case scenario” planning. I will imagine the worst thing that could happen on a sales call, and be ready for it.